Pein Consults
by Yowl of Time
Summary: Pein has a consulting session with the Akatsuki members, where each of them are forced to go through the past that they wish they could forget. Oneshot, PeinKonan in the end. For once Hidan doesn't cuss.
1. Prologue

**Pein Consults**

* * *

**I don't own Naruto. **

**Prologue**

The rain pouring outside the dark building in Amegakure was nothing new or meaningful to the eight men reaped in black, billowing cloaks with red clouds marked on it gathered outside their leader's chamber. Weather had long ceased to bother the dark beings whose names sent terror to almost every shinobi that lived. They were the Akatsuki, the Ten who would bring a new Dawn to the world.

"Why the fuck are we here again?" Grumbled a silver-haired, magenta-eyed man with a three-bladed scythe latched on his back. Pride and arrogance dripped all over his face, as if he didn't have a care in the world; then again, who wouldn't be if he was an immortal. _Hidan, the Immortal One, the Jashinist, the Foulmouthed._

"No idea; I just came here. Anyone want to fill us up?" Asked a tall large man with unusual blue skin, small black eyes and a sharklike grin stretched across his face. The giant sword slung he was holding was covered all over with bandages, and bits of bloodstain that he had failed to wash off completely before arriving there. _Hoshigaki Kisame, Demon Shark, Monster of the Hidden Mist, Tailed Beast without a Tail._

"To talk, no massacares for once," sighed a redhaired man with heavily lidded brown eyes a surprisingly young face; upon closer inspection, though, you would notice that his 'skin' was actually the same material as that of the puppets he was carrying around in his hidden scrolls. _Sasori, the Akasuna, the Scorpion, the Puppeteer of the Red Sand._

"Leader-sama wishes to talk to each of us in private; **Perhaps he senses a traitor in our midst,**" said two voices, one silky smooth and the other a rough growl. However, both voices had come from the strange two-faced man - white on the left and black on the right - with his head concealed between a pair of big leaves of a giant venus flytrap. _Zetsu, the Hidden One, the Eye of the Dawn, the Preyer of the Dead._

"Well, _I've _heard that he wants to discuss private issues, which is why he wants to talk to one after the other," snorted a blond man with a long ponytail with a lens scope covering one of his pale blue eyes. He was an overall nice-looking guy, if it weren't for the tongues smacking around the mouths installed unfittingly on both his palms. _Deidara, the Terrorist of Iwagakure, the Artist of Explosion, the Worshipper of the Instance._

"I heard so too, senpai! I did so too!" Squeaked an annoying high-pitched voice, which came from a man who didn't have any noticable features on him except the orange swirly mask that completely obscured his face save one eyehole and a tuft of black, spiky hair. _Tobi, the Mysterious, the Shinobi of the Single Sharingan, the Drifter._

"Shut up, you moron. Leader-sama should have your head for being so loudmouthed. At least then you'd serve me as an extra heart," growled a tall man (slightly shorter than Kisame) with a grey vizard covering all his face except the area around his green pupiless eyes. The few patches of skin visible were laced all over with thick stitches. _Kakuzu, the Bounty Hunter, the Treasurer of Evil, the Monster of the Five Hearts._

"Hn, be quiet already. Leader-sama knows we're here." The cold voice had come from a young man with black hair, with two long tear marks between his eyes and nose. His blood-red eyes reflected the hypnotic pattern of the nortorious Sharingan. _Uchiha Itachi, the Betrayer, the Murderer of a Clan, the Triangle Sharingan._

As soon as the words were out of Itachi's mouth, the door which they had been standing in front of creaked open. Out came a pale-faced woman with blue hair and amber eyes. Her expressionless face revealed no emotion at all to discover eight men waiting impatiently right in fornt of her.

"You're here," she said, the small piercing beneath her lower lips flashing as she spoke. _Konan, God's Angel, the Paper Wing, Mistress of Amegakure. _"Leader-sama is expecting you. Tobi, you are required to enter first. The rest of you must wait here, I'm afraid."

"Yes! Tobi is the first to go! Tobi is a good boy!" Squealed the masked man in delight, leaving the other men to growl in annoyance.

* * *

Inside the chamber itself, a lone figure with spiky orange hair sat on his chair, his back turned on the door, watching the rain splattering the whole of Amegakure out of the window. Upon Konan's opening the door, he silently turned away from the window, revealing a deathly white face with small metal rods pierced through it. His eyes were thoroughly grayish-purple, with ripple-like patterns emerging from the small pupil; Rinngnean, the Eye of the Gods. _Pein, the God of Peace, the Destined One, Savior of the World._

"Enter," he said.

* * *

_**And thus Pein begins to torture the entire Akatsuki member, one by one... R&R!**_


	2. Tobi

**Pein Consults**

**Tobi**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Leader-sama called for Tobi. Tobi listens to him because Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi chattered to no one in particular as he skipped over to where Pein was sitting, and plopped down on the chair in front of the Akatsuki leader. He wasn't surprised when Konan refused to leave and stayed at Pein's side; she was extremely devoted to him, and he had never seen the two Akatsuki members separate.

As he squirmed on his seat to get more comfortable, Tobi suddenly noticed that Pein and Konan were looking at him strangely, as if they were expecting him to suddenly tranform into a monster or something. Could they be AFRAID of him? No way. Wariness, yes, but certainly not fear.

"What does leader-sama want with Tobi?" Tobi asked first to lighten up the mood. They reacted to his voice positively, but both of them had narrowed their eyes even more.

"Tobi, I was inspecting your forms you've submitted before joining, and I'm impressed by your surprising amount of knowledge in various jutsu," said Pein finally, holding up the said print.

"Oh, thank you leader-sama! Tobi is a good boy!" Tobi squealed, happy that the usually apathic leader complimented him openly for perhaps the first time.

"Since your knowledge on jutsus is so significant, Tobi, I want you to help me with a certain case, if you will," said Pein slowly, never breaking eye contact with him. Tobi was both shocked and honored. The all-powerful Akatsuki leader ask help from him, the newest member? _What an honor!_

"At your service, leader-sama! Tobi is a good boy!"

"All right, Tobi, this is what happened," said Pein, his poker face unbreaking. "There's a certain ninja... let's call him Madara for the time being, shall we?" As soon as the word Madara was mentioned (_Was it even a name?_), Tobi noticed Konan tensing visibly. Pein also looked a little uncertain as he said the word to him. _What was wrong? _

"Yes, leader-sama!" Tobi cried enthusiastically to cheer them up, but only saw the two ninjas looking at each other in what seemed to be confusion.

"Right... anyway, this Madara is a very powerful ninja, with many unknown powers." Pein continued after a pause, and Tobi stopped analyzing them and listened to him attentively. "Now a powerful ninja like him would feel the need to conceal his identity, yes? So he made himself a secret identity. Let's call the name... Tobi for a while, shall we?" Again, the wary glances.

"Oh, just like my name! You're very kind, leader-sama!" Tobi squeaked, delighted that his leader would name someone after him. But he was still confused by the way Pein and Konan kept glancing oddly at each other. Was he saying something unexpected to them?

"Whatever. Anyway, one day some people noticed something amiss with Madara. He would keep pretending to be Tobi even when the only people around him were ones who knew his secrets, like Konan and me. In other words, he lost his actual identity. As far as he was concerned, he was Tobi, not Madara."

"Why, that's really a strange case, leader-sama!" Tobi exclaimed. _What a poor guy. Can't even remember himself who he is!_

"Very strange indeed, Tobi." Pein's voice seemed a little calmer now. "So, Tobi, what do you think his problem is?"

Tobi listened to Pein's words carefully. After he was finished, he thought for awhile. He indeed did know a vast array of jutsus (of course, knowing the jutsu and knowing how to use one is a completely different matter XD). After five minutes of thinking, a lightbulb flashed within his head, and he looked up with a delighted cry of a case solved.

"Tobi thinks he knows what has happened with Madara, leader-sama!" He squealed. Konan's eyes narrowed in interest, while Pein leaned slightly towards him and asked: "Yes?"

"He cast a genjutsu on himself, leader-sama!" Tobi exclaimed. "Madara cast a genjutsu on himself to convince everyone including himself that he is Tobi! And then somehow, the genjutsu stopped lifting on itself somehow, so now Madara has no idea that he isn't really Tobi!"

"Of course," muttered Pein with gleaming eyes on Tobi, who nearly flinched from his intense gaze. "It all makes sense, then. Thank you, Tobi. You've been a great help."

"Tobi shall always help, leader-sama! Tobi is a good boy!"

"Good. You are now dismissed, Tobi. Call for Zetsu on your way out."

"Yes, leader-sama!" Tobi cried happily, skipping back out of the room to let Pein and Konan discuss together. Of course, he didn't really care what they were talking about; it couldn't possibly be about him, could it?

* * *

_**My method of getting Madara out of the story. He's not gonna appear in any of my other Naruto stories, if I ever do make another. I mean, Tobi's at least fun to hang around with, but Madara's just too... yeesh. R&R!**_


	3. Zetsu

**Pein Consults**

**Zetsu**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Come inside, Zetsu," Pein invited the plant-man over to the empty seat in front of him. Konan didn't sit but stood next to him, which wasn't really surprising to Zetsu. Being a spy for Akatsuki left him with a LOT of information, and the fact that Konan cared deeply for her leader (and vice versa, he guessed) was one of them.

"You **wanted** to **see** me, **leader**-sama?" He answered politely, both sides speaking together for once; it was never a good idea to be rude in front of Pein, a concept that Hidan forgot too often for his health and well-being.

"Indeed, Zetsu. I was going over your profiles that I received before you joined Akatsuki," said Pein as he shuffled through the said papers. Zetsu's black half narrowed his eyes, while the white side gaped; he should have known that there were some things that even he didn't know but Pein did. "The details of your actions before your joining is very sketchy, according to this document, and the reason that you have stated as joining was 'land'. I would like a more thorough explanation."

Zetsu hesitated. His past was a relic that he himself wanted to forget so desperately that he had spent a long time erasing every reminder of it throughout the world. Yet now he was forced to live through it again because of Pein's orders.

"It's a long story, **and a disgusting one**," he said at last, the venus flytrap envolping him twitching slightly. "My powers, which I thank you for valuing greatly, didn't come to me naturally. In truth, I wasn't always half-plant... you see, leader-sama, I hail from - "

"Konohagakure, I know." Pein spoke simply.

Zetsu's breath got caught in his throat. _Did he know that already?! How?!_

"I do value your resourcefulness, Zetsu, but do you really deem me so ignorant?" Pein asked him, sounding slightly amused. "Yes, I know that you are from Konohagakure, and I know that your... powers... are due to a cruel experiment done to you when you were still an infant, am I right?"

Zetsu was still staring at his leader in shock, his mouth resisting his will to move. Pein leaned closer to him.

"Who was it?" He asked seriously. To Zetsu, it appeared as if the Rinnegnan patterns on his eyes were beginning to swirl in a hypnotic fashion; he couldn't resist answering.

"Orochimaru,** the scum**," he spat, venom burning in his eyes. "It was when I was two... **or so my parents said**. I was too young to understand why everyone avoided me **just because I had a couple of leaves growing out of my waist**. Orochimaru was banished from Konoha when I was around four, **but that didn't stop everyone from being afraid of me... misjudging me... eventually hating me**."

"And your split personality?" Pein inquired, raising his eyebrows slightly. He wasn't being rude, and Zetsu knew it; in reality, in wasn't exactly entertaining for him, watching others trip over themselves on how to address his duality. Pein's frankness relieved him.

"**Well, that's a bit more complicated... **up to when I was five I was haunted by daylight hallucinations. **Imagine people talking about a psychopatic kid who also happened to be half-vegetable.** Eventually my parents - **who were getting sick of me themselves by that time, by the way **- came up with the nerves to take me to a medical-nin... **where she diagnosed me with a Chimera's disesase."**

Pein stiffened, but reminded himself that it was to be expected; he had heard about the rare disease, in which a single person host two sets of DNA, causing an alter-ego to reside within his/her subconsciousness, which can obviously cause delusions and hallucinations. It would make sense that half of Zetsu was that alter-ego released.

"Which one?" He asked; he didn't make the question detailed, and he didn't needed it to be.

"**Me, obviously**; I was a rather nice kid until he came along, heh." Zetsu chuckled. "Needless to say, things got only worse after my black side was released; **I began mauling people who feared me, killing them, eating them when I could**... then again, that has to do with the plant instinct than my alter-ego. **You could hardly blame Konoha for banishing me**."

"No," admitted Pein. "But I do know who are to blame, and that is certainly not you."

Zetsu blinked. "I **don't** have** the **pleasure **of** understanding **you**, leader-**sama**."

"Yes you do," Once again, the Rinnegan bore into Zetsu's yellow eyes. "It was Orochimaru who screwed you up, turning you into something that invoked fear and disgust from the villagers. It was Konoha that refused to see the prodigy of your potentials, only saw a freak that had no place in there, and drove you out. It was your parents that didn't stand up for you when the rest of the world turned their back on you. No, Zetsu, no one can blame you for doing what you did."

Zetsu gaped at his leader in surprise. He had never seen Pein talking with such energy in his voice, as if convincing him of his being clear on the matter was the most important thing in his life. He was also intrigued by the fact that his voice had especially hardened when he was talking about his abusive parents; people usually took that tone when describing someone when the mentioned person's ideals differed from theirs. Did Pein have a clear idea on how a parent should act?

"Have you ever thought about where you belong?" Pein asked him abruptly, leaving Zetsu to blink at the unexpected question; even Konan raised her eyebrows.

"**After all I've told you, I would have thought the answer to be obvious, leader-sama**. No. I've never felt that I truly belong anywhere." He answered honestly.

"Because they didn't treat you equally," said Pein, looking at him straight in the eye; at least he wasn't leaning on him again. "Because they didn't accept you for what you were, because they only decided to see a part of you and not the whole... you felt that you didn't belong in your home."

Zetsu nodded uncomfortably. _What was he getting at? _Even he was sometimes scared by his leader's complicated mind.

"But I believe that it is safe for you to believe that you do belong here, Zetsu."

Zetsu's heart skipped a beat. "**Pardon** me?" He gasped.

"Unlike your home village, you ARE accepted here, for what you are and what you stand for." Pein continued. "Unlike Konoha, here you ARE equal to all members, save me since I'm the leader. Unlike your home, where you were treated as trash, here we consider you a weapon... and more importantly, _a comrade._"

A most strange tingling sensation tickled Zetsu's eyes; TEARS?!

Pein must have noticed him struggling to contain his emotion, and allowed a tiny smile to himself. "Your performance within Akatsuki is reported to be excellent," he said casually, as if they had begun their discussion just now. "I can see that you've been a good mentor to Tobi, and I am most impressed with your accomplishments in missions so far. I expect you to keep up with the good work."

"T-thank you, **leader-sama**," Zetsu stammered, for the first time in his life totally lost for words.

"Very well, you are now dismissed," said Pein calmly, waving at the door. "Send in Hidan after you, understood?"

"Yes, **leader**-sama," said Zetsu. He quickly rose and turned around, exiting.

"Sooo... how did it go?" Kisame asked curiously as the other members crowded around him.

"It was...** refreshing**..." said Zetsu.

He allowed himself a smile.

A genuine one.

* * *

_**Most other stories are going to go in similar fashion to Zetsu's. In this case, we discover that Zetsu was an experiment of Orochimaru and was bullied because of it, which caused him to develop a dual personality and leave the village. R&R.**_


	4. Hidan

**Pein Consults**

**Hidan**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"So, what's up?" Hidan said casually as he strolled into Pein's chamber, ignoring Konan's glare at his lack of etiquette, and plopped down onto the chair facing his leader. Not that he respected anyone other than Jashin-sama, but he WAS more powerful than him, and he had to acknowledge that.

"Hidan," Pein ackowledged him with a nod.

"Why do we have to do me now? I was about to do a damned ritual before you called on me!" Hidan complained.

"Good," said Pein, not looking at Hidan and instead pulling through a couple of papers. "We're going to talk about that later. But first, I've heard that you hail from Yugakure?"

"I don't want to talk about that blasted village," Hidan muttered mutinously. Yugakure, meaning 'Village Hidden in Hot Water', used to be a small ninja village until it decided to abandon its violent ways and tranform into a peaceful tourist village instead. Hidan, of course, being Hidan, didn't like it.

"Understandable," replied Pein. "By the time Yugakure surrendered, you have already joined the Jashinists. You murdered a whole quarter of the villagers before you left; quite a feat, if I may call it that. Impressive even for an Akatsuki member."

"How the hell did you know about that?" Asked Hidan, surprised but a little pleased that the leader knew of this. _Man, was I THAT famous?_

"Oh... I have my ways and means," said Pein, waving his hand modestly. "Now, here in this paper you've stated that you joined Akatsuki because of 'religion'. I'd like you to tell me more about your belief in Jashinism."

_Finally, someone in the organization who is actually interested! _Hidan shouted inwardly. Outwardly, he only smiled.

"Jashin-sama is the deity that looks over warfare, blood and death," Hidan began to describe his religion to his leader with enthusiasm. "Jashin-sama takes pleasure in utter destruction and massacare, because it supplies him with lots of blood. Thus, anything less than that is considered a sin. Those who serve Jashin-sama well is blessed by him with immortality so that he can bring more kills to him - in other words, me."

"And does your deity punish you if you commit a sin? That is, if you don't make a good kill?" Pein inquired further.

"Hell yeah, he does," said Hidan with a shudder; his god was the only thing that he truly feared in the world. "One who breaks the code is punished twice; first his fellow followers rip him into pieces, then Jashin-sama punishes him himself in the eternal flames of hell."

"I see," said Pein, nodding his head thoughtfully. "Your god certainly has his way of putting fear into people. Have you ever seen anyone being punished because he/she broke the code with your own eyes?"

Hidan flinched visibly upon his leader's words. _Did he know? No, no way he would know... _"Y-yes," he stuttered.

"Torn to pieces, were they?" Pein said, his voice tone unchanging. Two Rinnegan seemed to pierce through Hidan, looking through his soul. "Very tragic deaths they had to go through, they did. No wonder you've stayed loyal to Jashinism since then... isn't that so, Hidan?"

Hidan's breath stopped completely; not that he would die if he stopped breathing for a full hour, but the shock choked his lungs of any air and washed his brain of any reasonable thoughts. Suddenly his vision was filled with a hazy red glow, and the sound of two familiar voices began screaming inside his head...

"What a noble act they did to save you, your parents." Pein spoke.

That did it.

**"Doton: Domu!" **(Translation: Earth Release: Earth Spear)

CLANG!

Hidan was on his feet, acutely aware of Konan standing behind him with a paper kunai poised across his throat. Not that he really cared; what he did care was the fact that he was holding his three-bladed scythe in his hand, and that Pein had raised his left arm to block it from embedding itself into his heart. Of course, the Earth Spear Technique had hardened his skin to a degree that it was practically impenetrable.

It was slow for Hidan to come to his senses, but when he did he saw what he had done. He was not ashamed or anything (hell, he'd do that all over again if he could), but he was quite aware that he was screwed anyway. Slowly, he pulled his scythe back and slung it over his back. Pein withdrew his arm as well. Then, surprisingly, he beckoned at Konan to release him, and she complied. Freed, Hidan slowly sank back into his chair, lost for words.

"I'm not surprised that you'd freak out," was all that Pein said before looking through his papers again. But Hidan wasn't listening...

* * *

_"Kill him!" A tall, bare-chested man holding a large blade bellowed at the woman, pointing a thick finger at her son cuddled up in her arms. Several people surrounded her and her husband, shouting "Kill it!" "The Betrayer!" "Oath-breaker!" lined with hundereds of curses woven through the words._

_"No!" The woman screamed desperately, clutching the silver-haired child even tighter in her arms. "It's not his fault! I told him to leave! He is not to blame!"_

_One man pushed himself forward with a knife in his hand, only to be kicked back from the father. "You lay a finger on our son, and you're dead! Get it?"_

_The boy shook in terror, flinching away from the fire burning away in his comrade Jashinists' eyes; Jashin-sama's wrath?_

_He phased out, only to wake up a few moments later to find an old voice state: "If the boy is clear of blame, then someone else must shoulder it. Jashin-sama shall have his fill of blood, especially those of sinners."_

_His mother's grip tightened on him as waves of men advanced. Suddenly the boy felt her arms going slack around him, and looked up to see that a metal pike pulling back from where it had impaled his mother through the shoulder, ready to pierce the heart this time..._

* * *

"It seems that we're around done, Hidan. I expect you to perform as well as you've done as an Akatsuki member so far," said Peinthe Jashinist shook himself away from his long-lost memory. His leader's Rinnegan no longer seemed so hypnotising, but now Hidan was terrified of him as much as he was afraid of Jashin-sama. What was this man sitting in front of him actually incapable of?

"Send in Kakuzu after you. Oh, and I would suggest you at least try and get along with him in the future," said Pein, signalling his dismissal. Taking the gesture only too gladly, Hidan quickly rose to his feet and scurried out of the dreadful chamber.

He now knew why Jashin-sama had willed him to wear this cloak.

* * *

**_Ha-ha, poor Hidan. For those who didn't understand this one, I'll explain: as a boy Hidan broke a Jashinist rule, and the cultists demanded his death. His parents refused to have their son killed, and the Jashin priests killed them instead. The event traumatized Hidan into being a zealot of Jashinism. Ah well, who likes having their past picked at, even if it was by your (awesome) leader? R&R._**


	5. Kakuzu

**Pein Consults**

**Kakuzu**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Kakuzu bresquely barged in through the door one second after Hidan exited through it looking as if he had been scarred for life. He actually liked the change in his partner for once, but he WAS a little nervous; what had Pein done to do that to Hidan the Foulmouthed? Well, no time to worry about that now; he had business to disgust.

Pein was shifting through his papers when Kakuzu quickly got seated and pulled out his own. "Before we begin, leader-sama, I would like to point out that our financial ends are getting a bit too loose due to some of our members' senselessness. You won't believe how much money Sasori spends on high-quality wood from Konoha, or Deidara and Itachi on hair gels and nail polishes. And the stuff that Hidan keeps begging me to buy - ugh! I don't even want to mention them!"

"Calm down, Kakuzu; you can come to me and complain about financial issues AFTER this session is over," said Pein calmly, shifting his paper until he found Kakuzu's profile. "I'm rather surprised that your reason for joining Akatsuki is 'resources'. It's not as if you believed that I would pay you directly for joining us."

"No, but it made me easier to make profit," said Kakuzu, shrugging. "You, leader-sama, should know that I'm not a person who waits for someone to give me money; I go to them and take money, and kill them if neccesary."

"Indeed," said Pein, sounding slightly amused by Kakuzu's blunt method of speaking. Then he spoke: "Then again, it's perfectly normal if a guy who was very poor in childhood says so without any qualms, now is it?"

Kakuzu raised his eyebrows. What was he getting at? "It is true that I was extremely poor in youth and came to like money because of it, but is that relevant to what we're discussing here?" He pointed out.

"Speaking like a businessman; perhap, perhaps not," Pein replied, frustrating Kakuzu with his ambiguousness. He didn't have a clue why his leader was saying all this.

"Anyway, you and your unique powers are a great addition to this organization," said Pein, as if nothing had happened between them since Kakuzu walked in through the door. "I believe that to know my members better, I should know about how you came to access that power. Do you mind telling me?"

Kakuzu's dark eyebrows wet up further, but this time he didn't question the leader's motives and spoke: "The jutsu that allows my body to be in a state like this - " he began as he rolled up his sleeves to reveal stitches all over his arm. " - is a kinjutsu native to my village, Takigakure. I stole it from the village before I defected, and I also killed the village elders and took their hearts to test the jutsu out."

"And that was half a century ago," said Pein. It was a statement, not a question. "Interesting, as that was shortly after the time that Konohagakure was formed... also, during that time, the First Hokage was ambushed by an assasin."

Kakuzu's green pupilless eyes went wide. _What... does he know about that as well? _

"Unfortunately, the assasin wasn't fully aware of the First Hokage's Wood Release attacks, and was forced to swallow falilure and return to his village with empty hands," Pein continued; if he had noticed the stitched man paling as his story went on he didn't show it. "The assasin was a loyal elite of the village, having succeeded in many missions and earned respect from the entire village through effort alone."

"But a single failure had ruined it."

"The village elders ignored his plea for forgiveness, and accused him of either being weak or letting Hashirama Senju live on purpose. After all the years of loyalty offered to them, coldness and suspicion was what he got in return."

"That's when he decided: He couldn't trust anyone." Kakuzu suddenly cut in; he didn't know why, but it felt more right when he was the one who was talking about his past than when Pein was. "The assasin then truly turned against the village, murdering the elders one night and stealing the kinjutsu that was handed down his village... along with the elders hearts. He then worked as a bounty hunter for many years, and those years of experience taught him one more thing: while no people could be trusted, he COULD believe in money. That's how he came to be... the way he was."

His story finished, Kakuzu leaned back on his chair with a sigh. Honestly, he didn't know why he had gone and said that. It certainly wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Money is indeed very important," Pein, who had been quiet and attentive after Kakuzu took over as narrator, spoke up slowly. "Every business requires money, it's what keeps society going on smoothly. Yet I can't help wondering... do you not trust US as well?"

Kakuzu blinked. "Huh?" He asked rather dumbly.

"Well, I AM your superior currently, so I'd like to know if you're perfectly ready to stab me from behind anytime I show an opening," said Pein saracastically.

"... naah," said Kakuzu, avoiding his gaze; Pein's Rinnegan was never that easy to stare at, but right now it almost seemed as if they held a hypnotic quality.

"Do you trust in your comrades?" Pein asked him again, more seriously this time.

"... I never thought I'd say this... but yes," Kakuzu muttered before turning away, angry that the leader had already exploited his newfound weakness.

"There's no need to feel ashamed," said Pein with a knowing expression at Kakuzu's sulking face. "All you need to do is carry on the way you have done, and everything will work itself out." At this Konan glanced at him, but spoke nothing.

"Er... thank you?" Kakuzu said. He had no idea how to deal with a situation like this; he didn't have any social interactions besides the barbaric ones shared with Hidan for the last half a century. He was more familiar towards cash than people.

And he'd damn himself (at least, more than he already was) if Pein didn't know that.

"Very well, Kakuzu. I think we've talked enough for you to think over for the next week or so. Send in Deidara next." Pein's words were almost like a lifesaver. Hurrying up and bowing to his leader, Kakuzu hurried out of the door, the financial complaints the last thing on his mind.

For the first time in his life, he pitied Hidan.

* * *

**_The fact that Kakuzu left Takigakure after a failed attempt to assasinate the First Hokage is common knowledge. I've only added a touch of his youth in poverty. I personally like Kakuzu; he's my fourth favorite in the Akatsuki, below Pein, Konan and Deidara and just above Itachi. R&R._**


	6. Deidara

**Pein Consults**

**Deidara**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Deidara strolled into the chamber in his usual casual manner, acknowledging Konan with a nod before bowing slightly to his leader. Taking a seat and noticing that Pein was busy shifting through all his paperwork, the blonde decided to use the spare time and mold some of his clay into something ingenius. He assumed that it was okay because Konan was making origami beside their leader as well; but then again, Pein always had a soft spot on the blue-haired woman.

"You are quite an exceptional shinobi, Deidara," Pein's voice broke the blonde out of his concentration. He looked up to find his leader reading his profile. "Due to your unique ability your performance in this organization is quite something to behold. Also, I hear that you are quite famous in your home village of Iwagakure, despite the fact that you have long defected form the Rock Village. Not every missing-nin gains respect, you see."

"Er, thank you, leader-sama, hmm," said Deidara, unsure if Pein was giving him a genuine compliment or using it as an opening to a more serious conversation. Or both.

"Now, I've been looking through our members' reasons for joining Akatsuki," said Pein, frowning at Deidara's profile. "Here it says you've joined the Akatsuki 'on a whim'. Is this supposed to be a bad joke, or are you going to leave the next time you feel whimsical?"

Deidara laughed a little sheepishly. "Rest assured, leader-sama, that was a joke, yeah. An artist like me tend to get whimsical... a lot, mm."

"I see," said Pein, expression unchanging. "I've heard often about your views as an... artist. I would like an explanation."

Deidara brightened up immediately. _Finally, someone who appreciates my art as it is, yeah!_

"It's quite simple, leader-sama!" He cried enthusiastically, pulling out a lump of clay out of his utility belt and molding it into a sparrow with skilled hands; how many birds had he molded for the last three years? Enough to reduce a mountain to rubble, plus a little more.

"I believe that art is something that can only last for a short while, mm; anything that lasts too long becomes boring and tedious, and that's not art, mm." Now the blonde teenager was becoming passionate; his breath began to quicken, and some kind of a wild light began glittering in his eyes. "True art is something that flashes brilliantly in a single moment, then vanishes like it came, yeah; thus every true art is unique, mm. No two artwork can be the same, and nothing lasts more than a single moment, yeah."

"Explosion is the true essence of true art, hmm. It lasts for only a short moment, but is the most brilliant in that single moment, yeah. It's the art that I've always longed to work upon, and that's why I decided to accquire the jutsu passed down Iwa that allows me to - "

" - knead chakra into clay, yes, I've heard of it." Pein's calm words shocked Deidara out of his frenzy.

"How did you know?" The blonde asked his leader with his voice slightly shaking.

"Like I said, you're a celebrity," said Pein. "I am perfectly aware that all your jutsu concerning your Exploding Clay is a kinjutsu that is passed down Iwagakure. It would make sense that you stole the jutsu and fled the village on purpose."

"It was to carry my art to a greater degree, yeah!" Deidara exclaimed; strangely he wasn't angry, but rather esctatic as the memory flooded into him again. "Before the defection all I did was make lifeless clay sculptures all day, un; not that they were ugly, but it just wasn't ART! Hmm!"

"When I was fleeing from Iwa I was chased by a Jonin squad, un. They became the first targets for my Exploding Clay, mm. Oh, the beauty of it, yeah!" The fanatical artist cried, that frenzied look seeping into his eyes again. "It was in that moment that I've discovered the art that I've always desired, the Art of Explosion! Mmm! Even now the momory visits me every time I detonate a new artwork, reminding me that my art is ever improving, yeah..."

He trailed away, the excitement slowly fading away as he ranted. Pein's expression was still blank, but now Deidara knew his leader enough to know that he was listening intently.

"I understand," he said finally. "And I appreciate your explanation being in great detail; as this counsel's purpose is for me to know you better, your information has helped me greatly. But if I may add one more: It is reported that your partnership with Sasori is working well, but why do I hear the others saying that your relationship is very strained?"

"We have differences in... ideology, hmm." said Deidara, scratching his head sheepishly. "No matter how much I try to convince him otherwise, Danna holds firmly that art is something that lasts forever, yeah. Must be the puppet thing, gah!" He shook his head in exasperation.

"Yes, I've been told that your views on art is polar opposite," commented Pein. "Yet the two of you aren't always trying to swipe at each other like Hidan and Kakuzu."

"Now why should I, hmm?" Deidara exclaimed, picturing Kakuzu laughing at Hidan's headless body as the swearing Jahsinist's head kept screaming at his partner to stitch him back up. "I don't resent Sasori-danna on anything, un. Those two just loathe each other, mm. I respect Danna's view on art, even if I hate the sight of him spending all day in his room staring at his puppets, hmm. Just because I disagree with him doesn't mean that I hate him, yeah?"

"Of course, you are perfectly right." Pein said as his Rinnegan gleamed. "I wish some of our member would share your wisdom. You may dismiss yourself, but ask Sasori to come in next."

Deidara got up and walked out of the door after bowing down to his leader.

"Danna, you're next, un." He told the redhaired man as they passed each other in the waiting room.

"How was it?" Sasori asked him as he got to his feet.

"Oh, not so bad," said Deidara as he shrugged, glancing at Hidan and Kakuzu with a smirk.

* * *

_**I wonder: how would Deidara react if Pein had told him of Sasori's past? Would he pity his partner, or make fun of him for being a wimp? Being a Deidara fan I hope it's the former, although I doubt he can resist a casual barb or two. R&R.**_


	7. Sasori

**Pein Consults**

**Sasori**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Leader-sama," said Sasori as he slid into the chamber, nodding at Konan before bowing to his leader. They both returned the greeting in a similar fashion, allowing the puppet-man to sit down across Pein. His joints creaked uncomfortably as his back leaned on the chair; all the rain was making them stiff.

"Ah, the rain is causing you a problem, I see." Pein spoke as he made several hand seals in the air. A few moments later, the rain stopped. "Having a wooden body and being native to Sunagakure doesn't make you familiar to rain, it appears."

"Leader-sama, the last time I've been to Suna was to kidnap the Kazekage," Sasori pointed out.

"Yet it was still home to you once," Pein replied. "It doesn't matter whether you've broken all ties with it now; you can never erase your past and pretend that it never existed."

Sasori tensed upon hearing those words; memories that he had tried over three decades to supress were reacting to what he had heard just now.

'What do you wish to tell me, leader-sama?" He said, trying to pick his words carefully.

"I can't say anything to you unless you are ready to listen," came the reply. "So, for the time being, let's talk about something that you'd actually enjoy: your art."

Ah, now he could see what had caused Deidara's smile as he had walked out of the door. "The brat told you about our... differences, has he?"

"Indeed he has," said Pein. "But I would like to hear your side of the story, just to be fair."

Sasori paused before speaking his thoughts out. What exactly had Deidara told him?

"He must have told you that art is something that lasts for only a single moment," he said, being unable to help adding a snort. "His idea of art, aside from being ridiculous, is hardly fair; if something beautiful lasts for only an instant, then where would that leave the hundreds of people who failed to see that art in the moment? No, that's not how art should be."

"True art should be something that last for a long time, something that can transcend the differences between generations and being able to impress all. True art is eternal, which is why I focus on puppetry, especially those made from living creatures; I have freed those people from the curse of death and decay, and gave them a chance to live forever as an artwork that can last for eternity and give impressions to all who will see it."

Like Deidara before him, he ranted for a good while before he even realized that he was doing so. By the time he had stopped to catch his breath, Sasori could see that both Pein and Konan had been listening carefully, as if analyzing him through his words.

"Your views on art is interesting... not to mention the way it clashes with Deidara's viewpoint," said Pein eventually, his brow frowned as if in deep thought. "Then again, I'm not surprised that you came to hold the opinion of permanent art."

Sasori blinked in confusion. "I don't understand you, leader-sama."

"Recently I've been on a mission with Konan somewhere near Suna," said Pein rather abruptly, leaving Sasori flabbergasted again. "During the mission Konan discovered something... interesting. Konan, bring them out."

Konan silently stirred, as if waking up upon his command, and walked (gracefully, it seemed to Sasori) towards the large closet that was propped up against the corner of the room. Glancing at the blue-haired woman, Sasori saw her bringing out two familiar - TOO familiar - objects from where they had been concealed.

Deep inside the cylindrical core stored inside his wooden chest, Sasori's heart stopped briefly.

"Mother?" A soft gasp escaped his lips. "Father?"

His parent's lifeless - but somehow still managing to look kind - puppet faces stared back at him.

"I thought it would be... appropriate to return these to you, as they're your first puppets," said Pein, allowing Konan to give the two puppets to Sasori, who shakily raised his hands to take them - in the form of an embrace.

A position that he had always wanted to be in ... a position that he had been denied to since he was four.

"Th-thank you, leader-sama," he managed to stutter, genuine this time. Pein gave him the tiniest of smiles, something that he rarely did.

Of course, Sasori's intelligent mind had already worked out what Pein was trying to tell him. The Akatsuki leader was clearly aware that the Akasuna had spent a lonely childhood due to his parents' untimely death; that was why he had made their puppets with the skills his grandmother had taught him. He knew that the terrible loneliness that plagued his childhood was the reason behind his craving for something eternal and unchanging and his dislike of waiting.

However, no matter how much Sasori was aware of it, that knowledge was pushed aside by emotion... such that he had not felt after he left his village.

"I believe we've talked through everything neccesary..." said Pein, who had returned to looking at the profiles again. "Dismissed; just remember to perform as well as you've done so far, and you'll be a shinobi that we will be proud of. Send in Kisame after you."

"Yes, leader-sama," said Sasori, bowing courteously before walking out with his regained puppets.

"What are those, hmm?" Deidara asked curiously as he noticed his Danna exiting the room with two puppets that he had never seen before.

"None of your business, brat," said Sasori as he chuckled good-naturedly at his partner's pout.

* * *

_**Well, I thought that as Chiyo is now dead, Sasori has very much the right to claim his parents' puppets as his own. Few Akatsuki members can boast of a more tragic past than him, I suppose. R&R.**_


	8. Kisame

**Pein Consults**

**Kisame**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

If you exclude dismemberment, slaughter, duels and sword polishing, Hoshigaki Kisame didn't have much to talk about, so he was relatively at ease when Sasori walked out of the door (with two unfamiliar puppets) to inform him that he was to be next. Carelessly slinging Samehada around his back, he walked confidently into the Akatsuki leader's chamber to find him seated while going through a number of papers, with Konan standing beside him like a personal bodyguard.

_Then again, who needs bodyguards when you're the God, _Kisame thought inwardly with a mental grin. He had certainly never seen Konan more than twenty feet away from Pein, and he was quite certain of the reason why ... as he was sure that many others were.

"You've wanted to speak with me, leader-sama?" Pein raised his head at the shark-man's words to look at him straight in the eye, and he mentally repressed a shudder; no matter how powerful one may be, the entrancing ripples the Rinnegan gave out was enough to make them wet their pants and run for cover.

"Yes, Kisame, but I believe our talk will be shorter than that of the others," said Pein, looking through what was obviously Kisame's profile. "You are a warrior, through and through, and that doesn't exactly leave me with many things to speak."

"I don't know whether to be flattered or hurt," said Kisame jokingly, despite making a mental note not to get his leader pissed at him a mere fifteen seconds after the meeting began.

"Feel as you please," replied Pein flatly. "How was your mission?"

Classic, beginning with simple questions.

"Oh, fairly well," replied Kisame with an easygoing shrug. "Itachi-san made quick work of one group with his Sharingan while I drowned the other squad. Case closed."

"Impressive, managing to contain so much chakra with in your body," commented Pein. "Many call you a Tailed Beast Without a Tail, are you aware of that?"

"Aw, so flattering," the shark-man chuckled. "I myself have no idea why I have about three times as much chakra as that Nine-Tailed brat."

"Perhaps that is because you can hardly be considered human," Pein pointed out.

"Ouch, that hurt," said Kisame, flinching back theatrically. "Haven't anyone told you that teasing people with their appearance is a bad thing?"

"Indeed yes," came the reply. "And haven't anyone told YOU that trying to hide your past is never a good thing?"

Kisame was just about to make a smart retort when something got caught in his throat. _Trying to hide my past?_

"I believe I've been honest with you about my past, leader-sama," the shark-man responded. "It's quite common knowledge that I used to be one of the Seven Swordsman of Kirigakure, and that I became a missing-nin for various assasins and terrorizations nation-wide. I'm not ashamed of my past."

"I have no qualms about your violent past, and I have nothing to say about it." Pein stated, equally calm. "But I do have something to talk about... before and after that time."

"Pardon me?" Kisame spoke, a little baffled.

"Have you ever heard about Zetsu's childhood?" The Monster of the Hidden Mist tensed at the question. He had been warned beforehand by his comrades that Pein would first confuse them with apparantly meaningless questions before hitting on his point.

"No, leader-sama, I haven't." Kisme replied honestly. It was always good to be honest with the leader.

"Pity; if you had, then I wouldn't have to tell you," said Pein. "You and Zetsu are quite similar; as children you were both teased quite a lot by your inhuman appearances. Except that while Zetsu was mutated by Orochimaru and his foul experiments, you were a natural mutant, blue-skinned and gilled from birth."

Kisame stared at his leader in shock, his already-small eyes having gotten even tinier.

"When you first joined this organization, you've said that your reason for joining was 'spite'. Am I correct?" Pein asked, as if he hadn't asked the question that baffled the shark-man.

"Er- yes," Kisame stuttered. He was starting to get afraid of his leader now.

"To whom was that spite aimed against?" The Rinnegan bored into him, as if the ripple patterns were demanding him of an answer.

Sweat began rolling off Kisame as he wondered how to answer. He was quite certain that when he said the word spite it had been an honest answer, but who was the target of that spite? Now that he was actually forced to make an answer, Kisame strangely realized that he didn't know anymore.

Then, to his surprise, Pein withdrew abruptly.

"You dont have to answer if the question bothers you," he said quietly. "What's important is that you, not me, know the answer."

An awkward silence followed, with Kisame not knowing what to say and Pein apparantly enjoying the silence. Obviously, the leader was the one who broke it.

"Before I dismiss you," he began. "Would you like to tell me if something seems to be the matter with Itachi?"

Kisame paused to think, trying his best to get over the uncomfortable questions received from before. Itachi did seem to be in a more gloomy mood than he was usually; most people would have been unable to tell the difference, but Kisame had been with his coldhearted partner long enough to notice.

"I'm sorry, leader-sama. I'm not sure. But if there is a problem with Itachi-san I'm sure that he's strong enough to get over it on his own."

Pein seemed satisfied with that answer. "And will you help him?" He asked.

"Of course," Kisame stated simply.

"Good," said Pein, eyes drifting off into yonder. "You are dismissed. Send in Itachi after you."

"Yes, leader-sama," said Kisame. He got up, bowed slightly to his leader and walked out, very conscious of two pairs of eyes looking at him.

_Well, that was as wierd as hell..._

* * *

_**Huh, is it just me or are the chapters getting shorter as I write? Well, I suppose I can't blame Kisame, as he really didn't have much to talk about... I rather admire his simple personality, although sometimes it becomes a bore. Ah well, at least I'll have many things to write about in the next chapter. Enter Uchiha Itachi! R&R!**_


	9. Itachi

**Pein Consults**

**Itachi**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Come in, Itachi; we have a lot to discuss," Pein's cool, collected voice greeted Itachi as he walked into his chamber and sat down. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan gleamed in the semi-dark room; his death and rebirth had apparantly been considered as a 'power-up' for his Mangekyo Sharingan, evolving it into Eternal Mode.

"There is something wrong with you," said Pein. It wasn't a question, and Itachi knew it.

"Nothing I can't handle," came the reply. It wasn't an answer, and Pein knew it. Konan raised her eyebrows beside him, but said nothing.

"It's about Sasuke," said Pein. Itach raised his head ever slightly at this, which was a rather large response coming from him.

"I'm not afraid of him," he stated flatly after a pause.

"Then are you afraid FOR him?" Pein's words stirred a small reaction from Itachi again - again, a great feat.

"I don't have the pleasure of understanding you, leader-sama." Pein supressed a snort at Itachi's reply laced with forced calmness; the cold Uchiha never took pleasure in anything. His words only succeeded in betraying his (slight) nervousness.

"When you first joined Akatsuki, you've stated that you're reason for joining was 'ideology'." He said, making Itachi tense again; he was well aware of Pein's habit of leading people away from the main subject and bring it out again when least expected.

"Ideology for peace," Itachi comfirmed; better to keep themselves fixed on the subject.

"Exactly," said Pein. "You and I share a common wish for peace, Itachi Uchiha, and that is one of the reasons why I've accepted you without a second thought. Your ideology made you capable of murdering your whole clan, murderig your friends, murdering your own parents."

"Yet it couldn't make you murder your brother."

At this, Itachi blinked. Sharingan locked into Rinnegan, as if challenging it to a battle of staring. However, they both knew who would eventually win.

"I am aware of your motives for the Uchiha Clan Massacare," Pein stated when Itachi still refused to speak. "You've lived through the Third Great Shinobi War in youth, so it is natural that you would wish for peace. Not so with your clan. Konoha had always kept a careful eye on the former rival clan of their first Hokage, and eventually the Uchiha Clan could take it no more and planned for revege."

"I did it to ensure peace," said Itachi, realizing that there was no backing out of this. "Both my clan and the village elders made me spy on each other, making me a double agent. They wanted to use me as a tool for war... I wanted to stop that."

"So what made you refrain from killing Sasuke?" Pein inquired. Itachi's eyebrows twitched; indeed, there was no backing out of this.

"Could it possibly be that you love your brother so dearly that you were willing to die at his hands?" As Pein said this, his Rinnegan seemed to bore into Itachi's Sharingan like a pair of drills. It took half a second for the cold Uchiha to realize that his eyes had become wide in shock, which shocked him even more. How did he let such a huge show of emotion escape him?

"I... I've done many wrongs in my life," he said at last, avoiding Pein's eyes and choosing to look down on his hands instead; hands that have bloodied themselves with the blood of countless... well, not-so-innocent shinobi. "Sasuke is not like me. I was confident that he would vow to become strong enough to fend for himself, then he would defeat me and undo the wrong I have done to the world..." His voice trailed away. Pein, for once, was silent for a moment.

"He defeated you," his leader said eventually, after a thirty-second hiatus. "But he failed to undo what you have done. If he had done anything, he had made it worse."

"I know," Itachi sighed. He had actually sighed. How had things gone so wrong? "I had hoped that Sasuke would use the powers he had gained while trying to kill me to heal the wounds of hate and war that was inflicted on the world... but perhaps I had asked too much. Perhaps the wound is already too deep to be healed."

"If you believe it to be so, then that is how it shall be." Pein spoke flatly, and was pleased to see Itachi looking up at him in surprise. "I still have faith in our ability to restore peace to this world. If Sasuke had truly wished to do so, he could have done."

"How had things gone so wrong?" Itachi murmured, burying his face in his hands in one emotion that he had never truly felt: defeat. "I never wanted Sasuke to be comsumed by this tide of hatred that I had wanted so much to destroy. What had Madara done to him? What had I done to him?"

Then Pein did something that even the genius Itachi hadn't expected to do: he leaned forward and clasped his hands on the Uchiha's shoulder.

"Take heart, for there is still a chance that he may be cured." He said, and to his shock Itachi could detect a faint trace of warmth in his apathic leader's voice. "Madara is now locked within Tobi, and has no chance of getting out. Sasuke is free from his influence now. All he needs now is someone to persuade him back into peace."

"That is good to hear," said Itachi, still confused by Pein's sudden passion. "But Sasuke's gone too far. Who could possibly even wish to try and touch his - "

Itachi was just about to say 'heart' when he realized that there indeed was someone who would indeed try and bring his brother back. He could see that Pein could already guess the answer to his question, and was again shocked to find a trace of amusement and warmth in his expression. Since when had the two of them betrayed so much emotion in one day?

"Tell me about him," said Pein, his gaze softening as he was reminicing. Konan briefly glanced at Pein, and smiled ever so slightly; also the first time Itachi had seen her doing it. "Aside from me and Konan, you are the only the only Akatsuki member who had had a conversation with the Kyuubi's Jinchurikki, and thus had a look into what kind of a person he is. How did Uzumaki Naruto seem to you?"

"... foolish," said Itachi, allowing himself a tiny smile. "Stubborn, dense, hard-headed, quick to anger... and faithful." Here he paused, then continued: "I see many people within him, leader-sama. I see in him his master Jiraiya's unending faith in peace, his father the Fourth Hokage's iron will, the Third Hokage's compassion... but most of all I see the First Hokage in him. Hashirama Senju, who had convinced his enemy Madara into making peace and finding Konoha together. If someone can do the same to Sasuke, I believe it's him."

Pein seemed pleased by Itachi's thorough description; the cold Uchiha usually didn't make his sentences longer than three words.

"Yes, that is similar to the impression I got from him as well," he said quietly, his focus still slightly aloof. Then his eyes sharpened again, and this time he looked directly at Itachi as he spoke: "I have no doubt that Uzumaki Naruto will stick to his method in bringing peace to this world. So we must not waver from ours as well. Uchiha Itachi, as leader of Akatsuki I compliment you on the accomplishments you've made since joining the organization, and hope that the good effort will carry on in the future. You are dismissed."

Itachi bowed as he got up. As he made for the door, he heard Pein speak behind him: "I do hope Sasuke will be brought back in the end..."

* * *

"So... how was it, Itachi-san?" To Itachi's surprise, everyone else had been waiting for him outside their leader's room, although Pein was already done with them. Itachi couldn't help noticing that while some of them looked shaken by the short conversations a few of them looked strangely content. The question had come from Kisame, who looked at his partner with interest in his small black eyes.

Itachi smiled very slightly.

"Well, I think I'm not the only one who had learned something..."

* * *

_**Well, that's everyone in the Akatsuki covered except Konan and the evil questioner himself. I shall look into both of them in the next chapter, so don't go yet! R&R!**_


	10. Pein & Konan

**Pein Consults**

**Pein & Konan**

**I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

Konan watched her partner, still not moving from where she had been standing for nearly an hour as Pein finally relaxed after going through conversations with all the Akatsuki members. If it hadn't been for her, who had known him for practically all her life, one wouldn't even be able to tell the difference, but he was certainly more relaxed.

"Konan," the blue-haired woman turned around to see Pein looking at her. The chilly eyes of the Rinnegan didn't make her flinch in inexplicable fear as everyone else did; instead, she oddly felt drawn to it. It was almost as if she had fallen in love with those eyes, but she knew that it wasn't the eyes that she had fallen in love with.

"Yes, Pein?" She replied. Only Konan even dared to address her partner by his 'name'. And even she seldom mentioned his true name, as he had stated that he had left behind his former identity long ago. Apparantly, that hadn't changed after his death and resurrection.

"Why do you think I've decided to have this conference in the first place?" Konan blinked at her partner's question. She certainly had wondered that; she had seen Pein talking with every one of their members with matters that apparantly disturbed them a lot, but Konan rather missed the whole point of the activity. But she was surprised that Pein had asked it himself; she would have asked that to him, if she wasn't afraid that he'd be offended.

"Why is it so?" She asked him back, who smiled ever so slightly. Konan felt a soft rush of warmth inside her; Pein never altered his facial excpression in front of anyone except those small moments where he would smile at her. She felt grateful... and a little special, for some reason. Was it just because she felt that her God favored her above all else?

"Pain is the answer." Came the reply. Konan was not surprised; Pein had a knack for cryptic answers, and this one wasn't even that mysterious. She was acutely aware of what her partner was inferring to. "They are all S-rank missing-nin, feared by all and respected by some. Everyone is too busy fearing them, loathing them, to truly see their pained past ... and through them the present. In truth, they are merely men who are scarred for life, hiding their pain behind the mask of terror that everyone sees. That is why I respect them as members of the Akatsuki: they know pain better than most."

Konan listened to her partner in awe. She always respected Pein's intelligence and insight, but she had never realized that he had already seen what their comrades have been hiding deep within their minds, to a place where even their owners themselves had forgotten them.

She was so deep in thought over this that Pein's next question completely caught her offguard. "And what about you, Konan?"

"Excuse me?" She asked. She was about to say more, but Pein's expression pushed the words straight down her throat. She had rarely seen her partner betray any kind of emotion since he took up the name that everyone now called him. She could sometimes detect faint traces of it hidden within him, but he never revealed those emotions anyone to be seen. So it came as quite a shock to see his deathly-white face twisted with unhappiness.

"Does it pain you to see me like this?" He said quietly as he looked down at his own body... which was, well, technically NOT his body.

"Pein..." said Konan as she tried to reach out to him, but when he raised his head to look at her she was again shocked by the genuine grief that was reflected in his face.

"Do you miss Yahiko?"

It felt as if the words have stabbed Konan through her heart. She suddenly remembered what day it was. She felt something trickling down her cheek, but didn't realize that it was her tears until they blurred her vision until she couldn't even recognize her partner's face.

She felt Pein's face wipe the tears away, but when her vision cleared she saw that he was avoiding her gaze, expression crumbling away in guilt.

"Forgive me," he mumbled, dropping his gaze. "I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, no," said Konan, shaking her head gently. She was indeed shocked by the question, and it did sting her, but she knew perfectly well that she wasn't suffering as bad as Pein himself. "I do miss Yahiko, Nagato, but that doesn't mean I hate you for letting him kill himself with your blade. You don't have to feel guilty; nothing could have stopped him from dying."

"He always talked about saving the world from this tide of hatred," said Pein, waving his hands toward the window. Konan spared a glance at the outside, and saw that the everlasting rain of Amegakure hadn't resumed falling since Pein had stopped it during Sasori's consult. "He always wanted to make the rain stop."

"He had noble dreams," Konan agreed. "He may be gone, but they haven't died with him. Do you know why? Because you are carrying them on in Yahiko's place. You've become God, just as Yahiko had wished to be. You are readying a world where peace reigns, a world Yahiko had always dreamed of."

"And I'm not doing that much of a good job, am I?" Said Pein bitterly. Konan opened her mouth to protest, but he continued without a pause: "I'm nothing but Yahiko's shadow, Konan. Everything that he was and wanted to be, I tried to be... but it was only half a success."

"Don't say that!" Konan exclaimed forcefully. When Pein looked at her in surprise, she carried on: "There is no point on wondering what Yahiko would have done. You are not Yahiko, nor a shadow of him. You are Nagato, the leader of Akatsuki and the leader of Amegakure!"

Pein looked at her queerly for a short while. Then he said: "I never thought you would compare me to Yahiko in such a way."

"Huh?" Asked Konan. She barely registered the fact that their conversation was slowly changing from that of partners in a criminal organization to a casual conversation between two old friends. Standing in front of her was not the cold and apathic leader that she had served for for so long, but he had grown quite a lot from the quiet and shy boy that she had grown up with for years. For once she could almost believe Pein's catchphrase: "Pain causes people to grow up."

"I never thought I could make you uncomfortable by using Yahiko's body as my own..." Her partner murmured, briefly raising his hand to touch one of the metallic studs that jutted out of his cheek. "Perhaps it hurts you to see me forcefully using the body of someone you loved..."

Konan nearly doubled over in shock. "Me?" She gasped. "In love with Yahiko?"

"Don't look at me as if you don't know what I'm talking about," said Pein, sounding oddly hurt and amused at the same time. "We've lived together for almost twenty years, Konan. I see you mourning for Yahiko every year on the anniversary of his death... and today was no exception."

"Silly," said Konan, wiping her tears away again. "Of course I do. He was our friend. Maybe I've loved him in the past, Nagato, but that is the past. Yahiko is my past."

"But you... you are my present, Nagato."

Pein's eyes went round at Konan's words in shock. Konan was almost equally shocked as her partner's body reeled back slightly. Pein never, ever showed that kind of emotion.

"Konan... you...?" He stammered.

"Nagato..." Konan murmured, moving over to him. "I thought you would have realized this by now. I love you. Not only as an angel that worships her god, but as a woman to her friend."

She would have said more, if Pein hadn't suddenly pulled her in for a fierce embrace. She was so surprised that she couldn't even flinch back in response.

"Is that answer enough for you?" Pein whispered into her ears. She nodded.

"Come on," said Pein, pulling apart and looking into her eyes. "Bedtime."

* * *

**_Eh, sorry for the crappy ending... I should improve on writing something serious. Anyway, R&R!_**


End file.
